Episode 137: Joan Wilmer | Authenticity & Excellence in Leadership
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In this episode of Beyond the Business Suit, I'm sharing an interview I did a few months ago with Joan Wilmer. Joan is a seasoned Human Resources Executive with an amazing background and story. This is an episode you will want to have something to capture notes nearby because she shared so many gems! I did want to mention that in the episode, I miss stated the title of Tiffany Dufu's book. I said “Dropping the Ball” instead of “Drop the Ball.”
Heard in this episode
- The impact her mother and grandmother had on her
- Her true “elevator pitch” and where that led her
- Her career journey in HR
- The importance of working with excellence and authenticity
- The serendipitous experiences that led to opportunities
- Her perspective on what women can do to get to the C-suite
- Lots more!
Joan's Bio
Motivating people to reach their full potential plus providing them with the necessary resources to do so are two things Ms. Joan G. Wilmer does best.
A steadfast dedication to the betterment of people truly constitutes Ms. Wilmer’s personal mission statement, and ultimately that same dedication has fueled her career as a highly decorated human resources leader.
Over the past two decades, she’s built an impressive rapport at companies including CBRE, Caesars Entertainment, American Red Cross, Toyota and Citigroup, holding the titles of Greater Southeastern Human Resources Leader via CBRE; Vice President of Human Resources via Caesars Entertainment; Human Resources Director via American Red Cross; CSC Eastern Region Human Resources Leader via Toyota and both Assistant Vice President and Vice President of Human Resources via Citigroup.
A well-respected visionary, Ms. Wilmer’s accomplishments are expansive — from leading Caesars Entertainment’s largest and most successful recruitment effort that resulted in over 40,000 applicants and over 2,000 hirees to creating Citigroup’s Employment of Choice strategy in 13 South African countries plus a signature leadership development program in Singapore — she has done it all.
Currently, Ms. Wilmer works as a Human Resources Executive. More specifically, herexpertise covers partnering with executive leaders, across multiple functions, providing leadership and strategic workforce planning, talent management and diversity and inclusion training to help organizations achieve their strategic objectives and financial goals.
An honor’s graduate of Norfolk State University, Ms. Wilmer holds a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work as well as a Master’s degree in Business Administration that she obtained from the University of Texas with honors.
Ms. Wilmer was appointed to the Norfolk State University Board of Visitors in January 2018. Prior, she served as a board member of the NSU Foundation, Incorporated. Currently, Ms. Wilmer is a member of the National Black MBA Association and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.
Moreover, she founded the Joan K. Wilmer Memorial Foundation in honor of her late mother. The organization’s mission is to create opportunities and resources that make dreams of achieving higher education a reality, giving rise to developing minority leaders through mentoring and building stronger families in evolving communities.
Her commitment to excellence has been nationally recognized throughout the years, resulting in awards from Toyota (“President’s Award”), Citigroup (“Circle of Leadership Award”), EBONY Magazine (“Top 30 Under 30 Leaders”), DiversityInc Magazine (“Leaders Rising”), Baltimore Business Journal (“Top 40 Under 40 Leaders”), Black Enterprise Magazine (“On the Move”) among a host of others.
Yet overall, Ms. Wilmer maintains an interest in passing along the lessons she learned from her humble beginnings. Growing up in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia to having lived in the world’s busiest cities, leveraging her experience to mentor rising women in business is a top priority in addition to advocating for various causes in her Hanover, Maryland community.
Quotables
“Are you genuinely and authentically helping the person beside you or are you doing it for personal gain?”
“Grown girl or grown man authenticity: this is who I am, this is what I know the world to be and I'm going to be true and honest to myself.”
“Some of the best executives I know, they're not anxious to speak or be heard. They're anxious to listen and to make informed decisions and statements and responses that speak to a level of intelligence.”
“Business schools need to have more of a focus around women. If we're saying women are not being selected for C-suite roles…that comes from early training.”“You're a ‘win' when you're able to have the substance behind your intelligence that produces results”
Tiffany / 24 June 2018 12:42
Hello Kailei, I just found out about your podcasts/website this week. And I want to tell you how much I LOVE what I am hearing! Please keep up the excellent work! I am here for it! Best, Tiffany